It happened!! My work on those big white walls in a proper gallery!!

I first visited the Saatchi Gallery in 1998 to see Richard Wilson’s “20:50”. His room full of oil. I can still clearly remember taking my time and standing at the end of the pathway, taking in the immense black reflections, knowing there was a queue behind me but also wanting to take in the moment. The weight of it filled the room and gave each viewer a few minutes of time to reflect. I was at art school at the time and it was one of the artworks that changed my life.

So roll on 25 years (or so) and an email pings in. It is the Saatchi Gallery expressing interest in one of my paintings. My first instinct is that it is a wind up. Never would I be so bold to think that my work would end up in such a prestigious gallery. I showed my husband and he said he thought it was real. I really wanted it to be real but I didn’t want to get too excited yet. David (husband) always tells me just to get on the phone, so the next the day after some unsuccessful Googling, I plucked up courage and phoned the number.

“Good morning, Saatchi Gallery”. Bloody hell!! I tried to play it cool but inside my heart was pounding. I had such a lovely and reassuring chat with the curator about the exhibition. Again, at this point, I still didn’t believe that my work was going to be in there. I received the email with all the details and arranged for my lovely art handler, Malcolm, to take them up to the Big Smoke. With a little bit of me still not believing this was happening, we went on a family holiday to Lyme Regis, where we were having a proper British seaside holiday: kite flying, fish and chips, fossil hunting and, of course, the 2p machines at the arcades.

We were at the arcade with all its flashing lights, patterned carpets and bibbing machines, when I received an email from the Saatchi Gallery with a link to their upcoming show “In Bloom”. My painting was one of the featured works!! This, as you can imagine, felt like an out of body experience.

With Malcolm all booked in, I have the urge to be with my paintings on the journey so I hopped in his van with my paintings on an adventure. Malcolm is fascinating and has so many wonderful stories. The journey took no time at all. We pulled up to the back entrance of the gallery and I was a bag of nerves. Were the gallery really going to accept my work or would they just laugh in my face? I needn’t have worried at all. They were handed over to a lady with a lovely smile and it was all very reassuring.

I still didn’t believe they would be on the walls. I was probably just a backup to someone else. I had a lovely time looking around the galleries, seeing the work, and I did indulge myself, imaging my work on the walls but then buried that away, just in case that didn’t happen.

I received an email inviting me plus one to the private view. How exciting but what on earth was I going to wear? I am so comfortable in my painty boiler suit but David said it was pretentious. He was probably right. I found a dress that I didn’t look too ridiculous in and sorted out some child care and, for the first time in years, David and I headed up to London; just the two of us. At this point, on the train from Brighton, I had convinced myself that the work would not be on the walls so I downed a can of cider.

Once at Sloane Square, we walked up the Kings Road towards the gallery. Poor David became my photographer and I had many photos taken next to the Saatchi sign. I then headed in. Were my paintings gracing their walls? We were on the invite list so that was the first worry gone. I knew the quickest way to gallery 4 is through the shop so I headed that way. As I turned the corner, “Oh My God!” I immediately saw my work on the walls: a dream come true. All those weeks or worry and self doubt immediately evaporated. I was the most uncool artist of all time and instead of being quiet and blasé, I punched the air and almost exploded with joy. Both Wild Floral Symphony and A Bloody, Great, Big, Ballsy and Bountiful Buncha Bodacious, Buoyant and Bewitching Blooms were on the wall.

The first Glenmorangie cocktail went down very quickly and then I just stood and watched people looking at my work. It was an amazing feeling. A very tall man approached me. He was the curator of the exhibition. I told him my tale of disbelief and he was very charming indeed. Not only that but he was a fellow Pop Will Eat Itself Fan, which put me immediately at ease.

It was such a treat to meet some of the other artists, including Heath Kane and Mimei Thompson, as well as Joanna Ham. The work that really caught my eye was Dan Rawling’s “Super Regular”. In a funny way, it all seemed right that the first work I saw at the Saatchi was made with sump oil and the now I was there with a petrol pump.

In Bloom Exhibition Open Until 9th October. See here for more details.